Lake County Gazette

Illinois State Sen. Craig Wilcox (R-McHenry) said his confidence in Department of Children and Family Services Director Mark Smith is "pretty low" after Smith was issued his 11th contempt citation this year for failing to appropriately place a vulnerable child.

Wilcox told the Lake County Gazette he's not sure Smith was ever fit for the job.

"I have no sense he has a pulse of where the organization's troubles are," Wilcox said. "He's been there for years and there's a point where you can no longer make excuses. My confidence in [the] director is pretty low."

Smith's latest contempt citation was issued on May 19. According to Capitol News Illinois this particular citation centered around an 11-year-old girl who's spent more than half her life under state custody being bounced around from an abusive foster home, emergency foster homes, psychiatric hospitals, and shelters. Just last month, she was hospitalized after becoming suicidal and held in the emergency room for an additional two days despite a court order to move her to a psychiatric hospital or secure residential facility. 

The citation before that, which was issued earlier in May, stemmed from a young girl who was sexually abused at a young age and shuffled between shelters and psychiatric hospitals instead of being placed, CBS News reported. Statements made in court suggested the girl has struggled as a direct result of the agency's failure to find her a proper place to live.

A 15-year-old boy was the subject of Smith's ninth citation. The agency also failed to place him and he was held in a psychiatric facility for months longer than was medically necessary, according to CBS News. 

"You're ignoring all of the progress that's been made at DCFS, and so is the decision to hold the department in contempt," Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D-IL) told CBS News after he was questioned about how many more citations it would take before action would be taken. "The head of the Department of Children and Family Services, and I, and the judge are frustrated with the challenges that we face for our most vulnerable children."

Wilcox, too, was asked his opinion on why the Governor has yet to remove Smith from his job.

"He probably feels a sense of futility for not having been engaged in this agency," Wilcox said. "He really doesn't have a clue what's happening there. He really doesn't know how to set metrics and manage those agency so they kind of run on their own."

Smith's biography on the DCFS website noted he was confirmed as director almost a year ago after serving as acting director since 2019.